Deleted an important Word document by accident? Or accidentally formatted a drive containing important Excel spreadsheets? Do not worry. There are multiple ways in which you can recover the files even after you have deleted them. However, for that, you will need a third-party tool. One of the preferred tools for recovering data from a deleted file system is Disk Drill for Windows. Disk Drill not only aids in word document recovery or excel document recovery, but it also helps in recovering any deleted files, including recovering images from a corrupted memory card or recovering files from a flash drive. Here is how to proceed for…

Recover Lost Word Document on Windows

When a file gets deleted here is what happens – the entry of the file in the file system is removed. However, the data of the file still remains in the system. Every computer has a system in which files are laid out on disk for efficient disk access – common file systems include NTFS for Windows, Linux EXT file systems, and the MacOS HFS file systems, FAT or exFAT for mobile devices. In all these cases, the entry of the file is removed once a file is deleted. The data of the file is marked as free space so that when you add a new file, the data of the old file will be overwritten. This is something you need to note.

The data of the old file will remain as long as it is not overwritten by any new data. Hence it is quite essential that you do not perform any disk activity, such as creating new files, copying or moving files, downloading new files, or disk defragmentation until the file recovery is done. Holding off disk activities increase your chances of getting the file back.

First, Set Up Disk Drill

Disk Drill for Windows can be downloaded from the author’s website. It has a free and a pro version. For recovering the files, we can start with the basic version to check if the files are recoverable or not at all. When you download, it is recommended that you download the files to a different location and not in the drive from where the files are lost. If the files were deleted from a portable storage, keep the storage disconnected until you have set up Disk Drill. If you have deleted the files from the system partition, it is recommended that you download the setup to another partition.

Once the download is done, install the program. Program installation means creating new files and hence, try to install it in a location that will reduce the chances of overwriting the data of your deleted files. Next, start Disk Drill for Windows.

Select the Scan Location

If you want to recover files from a portable storage, connect it to your PC now. When Disk Drill opens, you will see a list of partitions on all the disk drives of your PC. If you want to recover from a corrupted partition, then you may need to format the disk first. In that case, make sure that you perform a “Quick Format” as a full format will delete all data on your disk. Disk Drill works with partitions of any formats and will even recover files from lost partitions. Disk Drill also works with RAW file systems. RAW file systems are generally associated with disks that are not formatted or have a corrupted partition.

So, once you have the disk ready and accessible, you can click on recover. Click on “Recover” beside the disk that you need to scan and it will start looking for files on the disk. You can also use extra options to make Disk Drill look only for certain type of files. This speed up the scan.

Wait for The Scan to Complete

Next, Disk Drill will scan your disk for files that are deleted. You can see the file list grow in size as the program files that have been deleted. From this list, you can recover deleted Word document or an Excel spreadsheet. For unsaved Word document recovery, you need to look for files in .ASD format. These are the formats of the Auto-Recovery files made by Microsoft Office. You can preview most files using Disk Drill’s previewer too.

Once you get the list of files from Disk Drill, you can use the built-in search function to drill down the list and find your files. You can list file by types, by category, by size, date and more. Or, you can just search for the file using the file name.

Recover the Files

Once you have selected the files, the next step is quite easy. On the top, you will see the location where you want to recover the files. Try to keep this a different location from where you are recovering the files. Next, click on the recover button. The recovery process will be initiated. The file copy will take a while depending on the file size and the speed of the drive. To recover the files later, you can also save the session.

Once all the files are copied, you will get a confirmation dialogue on how many files were recovered successfully. Not all files can be recovered, even if they are listed by Disk Drill. This is because the operating system may overwrite the data.

Keep Your Files Safe

Disk Drill may not have a hundred percent success rate always. Disk Drill also has a Deep Scan feature that helps with file recovery in case the standard scan fails. A deep scan performs a byte-by-byte scan of the physical drive and looks for signatures of the files. It can take hours, but depending on the situation, it is often more effective.

As a preventive measure, Disk Drill also comes with a Recovery Vault option that keeps a copy of specified files and folders. The vault keeps a tab on deleted files, making it easier to recover them.

Finally done.

Bottom Line

Deep Drill for Windows not only allows you to recover Word and Excel files but also keeps them safe. Get more info. It is not just another single-use tool. It provides protection against accidental file deletions too. The program also comes in an easy to use and modern interface. Disk Drill is the first program that you need to try out when you have files that you need to recover.

The post How to Recover Lost Word Document on Windows Free and Easily? appeared first on TechPrevue.

This post first appeared on
TechPrévue, please read the originial post:
here